smith



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

B. SMITH,

(No Model.)

BRICK KILN.

No. 290,939. Patented Dec. 25, 1883.

INVENTOR (No Model.) 2 Sheetsj-Sheet 2.

\ T. S. SMITH.

I BRICK KILN. 9 N0. 290,939. Patented Dec. 25, 1883..

-ATTEST;Y

INVENTOR:

N. PETERS, lw\o \.ilhngrzlpher. Waihinglnn. D. c.

4 V raise their temperature to a point where any 'il'fnrren STATES armir tries.

THADDEUS S. SMITH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,

BRICK-KILN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,939, dated December 25, 1883.

Application filed February 27, 1883. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may OOncerrz:

Be it known that I, THADDEUS S. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of St. Louis,in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brick-Kilns; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates more especially toimprovements in that class of kilns known as the Scotch or open-toppedlkiln, andhas for its objects, first, to provide means for drying or removing the free moisture from green bricks after they are set in the kiln, and, second, to J furnish a means for .burningthe top courses of brick in the kiln into good hard brick. 1 attain these objects by the construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view; Fig. 2-, a transverse section, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal section.

The first part of my improvement consists in an improved modeof drying off the green bricks after they are set or stacked up in the kiln for the purpose of being burned. This I accomplish in a very perfect and economical manner by the introduction of a coil or coils of pipe, A, within the usual arches, B, that are left in the setting of the bricks in the kiln C. These coil or-coils of pipe may be of any suitable form, and are so connected that a current of steam will circulate through them, in

.order to heat the air within the arches, B. Such heated air, in passing upward throughthe interstices in the mass of green bricks, acts by its absorbent power to gradually deprive the bricks of their moisture, and at the same time fuel can be directly used.

My improved mode of drying the green bricks also possesses great economy and efficiency over the usual method heretofore employed, there being no vaporous gas produced, (as in the burning of wood,) to be condensed into a sweat by the mass of bricks while yet cold, and no ashes or'soot deposited to choke up the interstices between the bricks. u

I prefer to mount the steam-coils A upon burning the bricks to a red and white heat I successively, as usual, he proceeded with.

The pipe connections, controlling-valves,

850., between the coils A and the steam-boiler supplying steam to the coils will be of any of the usual constructions known to the art.

To promote the draft through the mass of bricks, fines or passages d, transverse to the arches B, are formed at the top of the kiln, either under the fiatting or covering D of the kiln or within or above the said fiatting, and

may be formed of brick or any other suitable The increased height at which the heatedair'and afterward the spent gases and smoke are delivered by the improved construction just described will aid the draft materially, and at the same time ameliorate the inconvenience to any neighboring dwellings, by dispersing such smoke with its offensive gases and soot-flakes before they can penetrate the dwellings. 4

In order to control and direet'the flame to any part of the kiln, I arrange dead-points or partitions df between the transverse flues d, and extending down some distance into the mass of bricks. These dead-points, in conj unction with gates or dampers d, that control communication between the transverse fiues (Z and the main fiuc D, furnish means for directing the flame to any desired portion of the kiln by opening or shutting off of the discharge from the fine (1 of the part of the kiln it is desired to regulate.

In order to compensate for inequalities in the setting of thekiln, aswell as the settling of the mass of bricks in burning, I provide sliding plates or walls f at each side of the hollow girder F, which settle and adapt themselves to any inequality or settling, and thereby keep the flue tight against the fiatting D of the kiln.

It is well known that the most difficult part of a kiln to burn into hard brick is that portion directly beneath the fiatting, from four to six courses downward being usually found to be light red or salmon soft bricks. To overcome this defect and burn such courses into good hard brick, I make a series of openings or fines, g, through the walls of the kiln, say six (more or less) courses below the fiat-ting or top of the kiln, to act as induction-fines for the flames generated in the outside furnaces G.

g are fines or passages left in the setting of the bricks in communication with the furnaceopenings g, and extending across the kiln, as indicated in Fig. 2. These fines g subserve the purpose of conducting and dispersing the flame from the furnaces G into direct contact with the above-mentioned courses of bricks, and thereby giving them the benefit of innuediate contact with the flame which they would not receive when the firing is confined to the arches, for the reason that the gases thus formed are mostly consumed, and the greatest calorific force exerted before they reach the uppermost courses of bricks.

In carrying on brick-burning with the above process, after the bricks are burned as much as is prudent by the fires in the arches, the doors of such arches are to be closed and sealed and fires started in the furnaces G, to complete the proper burning of the top courses of bricks, as above mentioned.

In the ordinary construction of kiln there would not be sufficient draft to enable the flames from the furnaces G to penetrate and thoroughly burn the top courses of bricks; but by means of my improved arrangement of parts-namely, dead-points d, transverse fines (I, main fine D, and stack Ea sufficient draft and control of the fiame can be established to burn the uppermost courses of the brick in the kiln harder than has heretofore been attained without using the downdraft, as in burning fire-brick.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Theherein-describedmodeofdryingbricks in a brick-kiln, the same consisting in the use of a coil of steam-heating pipe introduced into the arches formed in the mass of bricks, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a brick-kiln, the combination of the heating-coils A with the transverse fines (I, for the purpose set forth.

3. In a brick-kiln, the combination of the heating-coils A with the transverse fines (Z and main fines D, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a brickkiln, the combination of the heating-coils A with the transverse fines (Z, gates or dampers d", and main fine D, for the purpose set forth.

5. In a brick-kiln, the combination of the heating-coils A with the transverse fines d, main fine D, and smoke-stack E, for the purpose set forth.

6. In a brick-kiln, the combination of the heating-coils A with the transverse fines d, dead-points d, and main flue D, for the purpose set forth.

7. In a brick-kiln, the combination of the heating-coils A with the transverse fines d, dead-pointsrl, main fine D, and smpkestack E, for the purpose set forth.

8. In a brick-kiln, the combination of the heating-coils A with the transverse fines d, dead-points (2, dampers (Z main flue D, and smoke-stack 1), for the purpose set forth.

9. The combination, with a brick-kiln having an open top, of a smoke-stack, E, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

10. The combination, with a brick-kiln provided with a main fine, I), of a smoke-stack, E, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

11. In a brick-kiln, the combination of the furnaces G g, fines r transverse fines (Z, and dead-points d, for the purposeset forth.

12. In a brick-kiln, the combination of the furnaces G g with the fines transverse fines d, and main fine D, for the purpose set forth.

13. In a brick-kiln, the combination of furnaces G g with dead-points cl, transverse fines d, and main fine D, for the purpose set forth.

14. In a brick-kiln, the combination of furnaces G g with the fines g, transverse fines d, dead-points d, dampers (1, main flue D, and smoke-stack E, for the purpose set forth.

15. The combination, with a brick-kiln, of a hollow girder resting upon the permanent walls of the kiln, and acting both as a support for the smoke-stack and a main fine to receive the products of combustion, &e., substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

16. In a brick-kiln, the combination, with the hollow girder F, of side plates or Walls, f, adapted to settle and conform themselves to any inequality or settling of the kiln contents, as described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof, witness my hand this 20th day of February, 1883.

C. D. GREENE, Jr., A. D. GREENE. 

